Ugly by Roe Horvat

Title: ⟫ Ugly 

Author: ⟫ Roe Horvat 

Blurb: ⟫ When a homeless young omega comes by Burke’s pub asking for work, Burke doesn’t have the heart to send him away. He lets the boy help with some chores in exchange for food, and soon, Emerson’s visits become regular. Then one frosty December night, the boy keeps his head down, hiding in a corner until closing time and looking like he wants to disappear into the ground. Emerson is about to go into heat, and he has nowhere to hide. 

People say Burke is ugly and scary, but Emerson has never been afraid of the burly pub owner. The big alpha has scars down the side of his face, but so what? He must have been in a lot of pain once, poor man. When snow covers Dalton City, and Emerson realizes he’s only days away from his first heat, his feet carry him to the pub by themselves. Burke is the only alpha Emerson trusts not to hurt him. And given the choice between freezing to death or getting abused, Emerson would much rather offer himself to Burke. 

Except Burke is probably the nicest man in the entire city. 

Stunned, Emerson finds himself safe and warm during the snowstorm, without having to sacrifice anything. Maybe he’s even a little bit in love with his rescuer. 

 

Ugly is an omegaverse gay romance, mpreg, non-shifter. High heat, monogamous couple, HEA. 

Review: ⟫ This was beautiful. 

I can’t think of another book that I’ve read that contains such incredibly filthy dirty talk, whilst still managing to be sweet, soft and beautiful. This was a really great story – it would have been so easy to fall into so many tropes, but instead it was a fabulous love story, with Emerson and Burke falling for each other whilst terrified of losing their hearts and being left wrecked. 

There was size kink, breeding kink, heats and ruts – all written in Roe’s incredible explicit style that gets you all hot and bothered – but it was the quiet moments, where Emerson was dreaming about sitting on his man’s lap in the warm, safe and calm, watching the snow outside that stuck with me. For some reason, this story just really resonated with me and made me feel quietly happy. The characters felt real – Richard, struggling with success not being everything he thought it would be; Kirby finally finding a way off the streets; the staff at Burke’s pub – and altogether, it was like a found family that was so accepting, just – so warm! Literally, the only jarring note was Mark who was a little caricature-esque in his evilness, but he was so on the periphery of things that he didn’t impact too much on my love for the story. 

I’m probably not making a lot of sense, but if any of the above kinks appeal to you, I would snuggle up under the duvet and throw yourself into reading Ugly. You won’t regret it.

 

Blueprint by Romilly King (The Teams Book #2)

Title: ⟫ Blueprint 

Author: ⟫ Romilly King 

Blurb: ⟫ Meet Blue - The Arranger - Psychopath - Utterly Lost

 

My name is Indigo Jones, I smile like a human, I walk like a human, I kill like a god who believes in evolution. The Handler system gave me the blueprint to being human, so I won’t stand out in the crowd, but they can’t change the way I think, and death and all its aspects entrances me. 

Most humans don’t want to think about dying, I never stop. It’s my deviancy, that fascination with how you die, every little detail of it. 

I had someone to share my passion with once. My soul match. My symbiote.

They are gone now, it’s just me and the silence in my head as all the dark questions pile up, like so much oily pressure. My work keeps the pressure from blowing me apart, but The Team is a shadow of what I once had, just enough to keep me sane. 

Some corner of my brain though, it keeps looking for them, convinced they will come back, and make me whole again. The arrogance of the psychopath!

Monsters aren’t allowed to make wishes, and monsters don’t get happy endings. 

Review: ⟫ We finally get Blue and Trans' story. The problem with adoring a pairing is that it's incredibly hard for an author to live up to. How do you write an epic love story for a couple who are almost one person from the time they meet when they are young? It's a fascinating story and easily not as far-fetched as we might wish. 

Blue and Trans are as enigmatic, annoying and intriguing as always and it was good to see Nathan and Grey. I think I wanted it too much - nothing could really live up to what was in my head - but it was nevertheless a good read and addition to The Teams series.

His Favorite Color is Blood by K.A. Merikan

Title: ⟫ His Favorite Color is Blood 

Author: ⟫ K.A.Merikan 

Blurb: ⟫ Grim. Assassin. Leather-clad sex god. Has the most unusual taste in men. 

Misha. Mutilated. Afraid. Will never trust again. 

 Grim is a bloodthirsty killer, and he owns it. Gay in a world of outlaw bikers, he firmly stands his ground if anyone dares to cross him. He takes pleasure in showing homophobes their place and fucking his way through a life of carnage. 

 But there is a part of him always aching for something he cannot get. 

When by chance he saves the most perfect guy he’s ever met, he is not about to let him go. Even if it means he needs to smother his broken bird. 

When a masked, bloodstained man rescues Misha from captivity, he doesn’t know if he should thank the menacing stranger or stab him and run. Grim is not the kind of man who takes no for an answer, and Misha might now be in more danger than when he was trapped as a sex slave. 

Misha cannot deny though that Grim is as alluring as he is frightening, and once Misha realizes what power his body holds over Grim, he understands that taming the beast of a man could be within his reach. But any possibility of a future together is like a house of cards when Zero, the sadistic crime lord who destroyed Misha’s life, sets out to get him back. 

Will the ruthless biker assassin at Misha’s side be enough to conquer the monsters from his past? 

Review ⟫ 

This has got to be the absolute darkest thing I have ever read - what was done to Misha was horrific and real nightmare material. Grim - I've never heard of anyone with the fetish he had and that obviously affected my view of him. As a couple, these two are terrifyingly compatible, and as the story continues it's possible to recognise that what they have may not be conventional - AT ALL - but it's most definitely real. I learned so much reading this - some of it I didn't want to know - and the two MCs were clear voices in my head. If you heed the warnings about the darkness this story holds, it's well worth a read. I'm off to find some unrelenting fluff to read!

Moonstruck by Onley James (Necessary Evils #3)

Title: ⟫ Moonstruck – Necessary Evils 3 

Author: ⟫ Onley James 

Blurb: ⟫ Atticus Mulvaney is the eldest son of eccentric billionaire, Thomas Mulvaney—a role he takes very seriously. Atticus takes everything seriously. Like his brothers, Atticus is a psychopath, raised to right the wrongs of a broken justice system. Unlike his brothers, he’s not very good at it. 

Jericho Navarro is no psychopath, but he is a vicious killer. Like Atticus, he also has a secret life. To most, he’s just a mechanic. But to a ragtag group of social misfits, he’s Peter Pan, teaching them to eliminate those who prey on the weak with extreme prejudice. 

 When Atticus and Jericho come face to face over a shared enemy, their accidental meeting ends in an explosively hot hookup neither can forget. But they have nothing in common. Atticus is a buttoned-up closeted scientist and Jericho is a man on a mission, determined to find and punish those responsible for the death of his sister. Still, Jericho can’t stay away. And, truthfully, Atticus doesn’t want him to. 

 As Jericho’s mission begins to bleed into Atticus’s life, two separate but equally brutal families will need to learn how to fight together to take out a common enemy. But no amount of brute force can show Jericho how to scale the walls of a psychopath’s heart. Can Jericho convince Atticus that, sometimes, the couple who kills together stays together? 

Review: ⟫ Oh my goodness, where do I begin? I guess I should begin with how I will forever imagine Netflix and Chill as Jericho and Atticus together on the sofa, with Jericho stroking through that red hair and Atticus doing whatever makes him feel comfortable! 

 Then I’d have to get into what a rollicking ride this story was! It has its serious sides – the storyline touches on drugs, trafficking, organ theft and much more – but the main plot-line is around Jericho and Atticus, as well as the Mulvaneys and the hot new family they meet! The chemistry between our two leads is off the charts, with Jericho somehow tuning in to Atticus being touch-starved and making sure his ‘Freckles’ never has to feel like that again. 

It’s also easy to see how they fell in love with each other – it’s sudden, frenetic and occasionally causes whiplash with just how fast everything goes, but it makes sense. In their world, everything can be taken away so quickly so you need to grab onto happiness when it turns up in the middle of a murder. And the sex scenes are frequent, graphic and incredibly HOT! 

 It was fantastic seeing the rest of the Mulvaneys again, as well as two of our favourite couples. Noah is rapidly becoming a favourite of mine, although Calliope may hold that place forever – especially for her riding the petty copter and refusing to speak to anyone other than Jericho during a particular scene! Obviously, you need to be a strong person to hold your own against the Mulvaneys and Calliope is that and more! 

 There is more build up regarding Thomas, who seems to be unravelling slightly; we get more of the murder twins (squeee!!!) and all in all, this is just a fantastic read! An easy 5/5 for me, and I am champing at the bit waiting for the next instalment!

Wyn by Lily Mayne

Title: ⟫ Wyn 

Author: ⟫ Lily Mayne 

Blurb: ⟫ I am a monster. 

 A ghoul. A demon. The bogeyman. I have been called all of them. Most creatures fear me, but humans are repulsed by me. They are terrified of me. They have created legends about me, ever since they became aware of my existence when the tear between our worlds grew and we—the monsters from their nightmares—flooded through in our droves. 

 There is only one human who isn’t afraid of me. The only one who matters. And I will destroy anyone who tries to hurt him or take him from me. Danny is mine. For the first time in my unfathomably long life, I know what it means to want another so much that the thought of losing him threatens to ruin me. I will do anything to keep Danny with me for as long as I can have him—for as long as he is willing to stay by the side of an ancient, scarred creature with a voice so inhuman it has sent some mad. 

 For some reason, Danny loves my voice. For some reason, Danny loves me. And when we both decide that his natural human life is nowhere near enough time for us to have together, we go on a journey between worlds to the one place where we can do what it takes for us to be together forever. 

  Wyn is a sweet, low-angst novella that is part of the Monstrous series, a post-apocalyptic m/m fantasy series that features monsters and human men falling in love. It is best to read this series in order—if you haven’t read books one to three already, there are big spoilers in this! 

  Review ⟫ Wyn is a closet Romantic! 

 This novella was long-awaited (okay maybe not long but I have no patience!) and I wish it had been a full novel because I'm greedy! Wyn and Danny make a perilous journey to a place within the Tear that may offer them a chance to be together longer than Danny's natural lifespan. 

 Mainly told from Wyn's POV, it was a beautiful insight into how a monster feels about his human and all that he is prepared to give up for the chance of eternity. 

 We see the Monster world, meet 'Gods' and spend time with our original favourites and I devoured this in just over an hour. Hot sex scenes, great banter and true love - you can't ask for more than that!